Page 26 - Martial Science Magazine Apr/2015 #8

Teachings of the Budha

Karma (The Four Wives)

“In one of the Agama Sutras, the Buddha’s
early sermons, there is a very interesting story:

Once there was a man who had four wives.
According to the social system and circumstances
of ancient India, it was possible for a man to have
several wives. Also, during the Heian period in
Japan, about a thousand years ago, it was not
unusual for a woman to have several husbands.
The Indian had become ill and was about to die.
At the end of his life, he felt very lonely and so
asked the first wife to accompany him to the
other world.

‘My dear wife,’ he said, ‘I loved you day and
night, I took care of you throughout my whole
life. Now I am about to die, will you please go
with me wherever I go after my death?’

He expected her to answer yes. But she
answered, ‘My dear husband, I know you always
loved me. And you are going to die. Now it is
time to separate from you. Goodbye, my dear.’

He called his second wife to his sickbed and
begged her to follow him in death. He said, ‘My
dear second wife, you know how I loved you.
Sometimes I was afraid you might leave me, but
I held on to you strongly. My dear, please come
with me.’

The second wife expressed herself rather
coldly. ‘Dear husband, your first wife refused
to accompany you after your death. How can
I follow you? You loved me only for your own
selfish sake.’